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Welcome to the 20th edition of the Proto48 Modeler. We are doing a short update to the website.
Our website provides information on ¼" scale products and modeling techniques. Proto48 is a subset of the larger O scale model railroad hobby. We build to exact scale standards for wheels and track gauge.
Please take a look at our scale and enjoy the models and techniques. Proto48 is well supported by hobby suppliers and is growing. We are enjoying a renaissance with many new products that have moved the scale beyond the realm of scratch builders to allow more modelers with moderate skills to build a operating layout using the new flex-track and switch kits.
The Proto48 movement has been growing for over 50 years and has gained the respect of many in the model railroading community. Proto48 exists because modelers desire to accurately model prototype railroad equipment including track gauge and wheel profile. Many of our newest members migrate from other scales such as HO. While the equipment is the same as other O scale models, the wheels and track are different to conform to the correct 4' 8 ½" gauge and dead scale wheel contour. Achieving accurate models in smaller scales is a challenge especially as one gets older. Replicating the detail in ¼" scale is easier and achievable. We encourage you to give it a try. You will find challenges to model in this scale but that is part of the fun to solve modeling problems. It is a departure from the current trend of open the box and put the train on the track. While you can use ready-to-run equipment built in China, you will have to change the wheels to run on the 4' 8 ½" gauge. Once you do that you will find that there are other improvements that can be made to the details and soon you will become hooked. Proto48 is a small movement within the ¼" scale community.
Our focus is on standard gauge modeling. Proto48 defines a gauge and wheel profile for locomotives, cars and track but it also expresses a concept of finescale modeling. Our models start out with the correct gauge of 4' 8 ½" and scale wheel profile and continue throughout the model to create an accurately scaled replica of the prototype.
Tom Mix’s scratchbuilt CB&Q 2-6-2 is an example of the best in Proto48 modeling
Quarter-inch scale offers railroad modelers a huge potential in terms of size and mass. It is big enough to permit the craftsman to accurately portray things like underbody details, doors, roof walks and ladders. Proto48 standard gauge modelers tend to strive for higher levels of detail and accuracy like their narrow gauge brethren.
Proto48 is more than just model making it covers the building of layouts and the inclusion of prototypical operations. There are an amazing number of P48 layouts being construction around the country. They range in size from switching layouts to large railroads with many hundred feet of scale track. Check out the layout page on the Protocraft website to see a few of the layouts built or being built.
http://www.protocraft.com/Layouts.cfm
If you don't have room or time to build a layout, you may be lucky enough to find some fellow modelers in your area that you can share your interest.
This model was built using an Intermountain 1937 AAR single door boxcar kit. A number of modifications were done to the car. The decals are from Protocraft and the scrap box. Intermountain made a double door kit but not with square corners of this prototype. An article will appear in a future issue of O Scale Trains.
You will find a number of new items listed. We can always use more material that will permit more issues to be published each year. As always we are indebted to the modelers who take the time to send material to share with others. We hope that this spirit of sharing will continue allowing us to bring fresh material to the web so that it can be enjoyed by everyone.
Robert Leners used my article to build his version to reflect the "as delivered" lettering and black end.
Lead Photo: Robert Leners contributed material on his turntable construction project. You will find the material in the Articles section.
Proto48 on the Web
There are two forums on Yahoo Groups that focus on Proto48
The first is the Proto48 Modeler: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/p48_modeler/
The second is P48 Layouts hosted by Brett Whelan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/p48layout/
OST Publications
PO Box 289, Exton PA 19341-0289
Phone: 1-610-363-7117
http://www.ostpubs.com/
Mike Cougill, partner in OST Publishing, has several books out on creating highly detailed track and turnouts in P48 and an electronic magazine that covers both P87 and P48. It is called The Missing Conversation. Each magazine provides a progression of thought toward scale railroad modeling.
Updates to the Site:
"Photo Gallery" will be updated soon with contributions from modelers.
Industry News, Shows and New Products:
The latest information about new and interesting products that are useful the Proto48 modeler as shown below:
Regional O Scale Shows with Proto48 Content:
O Scale West Convention
TBD 2014 Santa Clara, CA
O Scale West continues in the same venue at the Santa Clara Convention Center. You can obtain more information about the event at this site http://www.oscalewest.com
Chicago Midwest O Scale Meet
15-17 March 2013 Lombard, IL
The show is held at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center. The show has a huge selling floor, operating layouts including a Proto48 modular display. Visit their website for more details.
http://www.marchmeet.net/
Indianapolis O Scale Fall, Convention
TBD September 2013
Wyndham Indianapolis West, West 2544 Executive Drive
All fall meet organized by James Canter. If you live in the area, you should consider going.
oscaleindy@att.net
O Scale National Convention
25-29 June 2013
DCU Center
Worcester, MA
Website: http://www.2013oscalenational.com
This year the O National in the Worcester, MA area. The event has been excellent in the past and the committee is planning to be even better this time around. The National draws a large number of sellers and suppliers.
Stocking Dealers:
Des Plaines Hobbies
1524 Lee St, Des Plaines, IL 60018
www.desplaineshobbies.com
The shop moved to a new location in the same shopping center. The new store is even larger than the previous location. They stock 1/48 scale and building supplies.
Caboose Hobbies
500 South Broadway, Denver, CO 80209
www.caboosehobbies.com
Stocks San Juan trucks and wheels
Coronado Scale Models
1544 Cypress Street, Phoenix, AZ 85006
(602) 254-9656
coronadoscalemod@aol.com
This shop has served the needs of fine scale modelers for over 40 years. The owners are active scale modeler having produced some beautiful locomotives and cars. Their shop offers excellent mail order service and knowledgeable assistance. You might check out the Photo Gallery for some of Stan Schwedler's fine work.
Sources of Prototype Information:
Railway Prototype Cyclopedia
RP CYC Publications Co.
P.O. Box 451
Chesterfield, MO 63006
http://rpcycpub.com/
The team of Ed Hawkins and Patrick Wider has produced 25 volumes of important information on prototype railroads with a primary emphasis on steam and early diesel era subject matter. The most recent issue covers the ATSF Bx-34. -37 and -43 AAR boxcars in great detail. You will also find an excellent article on 50-ton AAR twin offset hoppers.
Steam Era Freight Cars
http://steamerafreightcars.com/
This website has been around for a while and recently taken over by Rob Adams. The original site was created by Ted Culotta but his Speedwitch business (now out of business) took off and allowed little time for the site. Rob is now updating the website with a new format and more useful information.
Supplier News:
American Switch & Signal
13052 Ratliff Run
Fishers, IN 46037-6266
317-774-5755
jfpautz@comcast.net
John Pautz has added several new switch parts to his lineup within the past month. All of the parts are made from Right O' Way rail and are cast in nickel silver. He has a wide range of frogs, guard rails and points for popular rail sizes. See the latest brochure in the Suppliers section.
All of the parts are done to Proto48 track standards.
Link to PDF
Latest Catalog
Buffalo Landing Detail Parts
P.O. Box 7
Bay View
Napier 4149, New Zealand
buffalo.landing@papertiger.co.nz
Buffalo Landing Detail Parts has been producing some very interesting detail sets for the 1/4” scale modeler. They have focused on narrow gauge but most of their sets are directly applicable to standard gauge. They several white metal figure sets and a 1937 Pontiac sedan cast in urethane. The Proto48 Modeler recently received a sample of their figure sets and have to rate them very highly.
Most of their product line can be obtained directly from New Zealand or from Coronado Scale Models in Phoenix.
Forsyth Rail Services
6331 State Route 2067
Susquehanna, PA 18847
http://mattforsyth.com/
Matt is a very talented builder in brass. He has established an excellent reputation for loco conversions to Proto48 and for major rebuilding of imported brass. His workmanship, painting and finishing is first rate. Recently, Matt rebuilt a N&W K-1 from the ground up for the publisher of O Scale Trains. Go to Matt’s website and enjoy his photo essay on the conversion.
If you have a pet project that is in need of professional help, check out Matt.
Archer Transfers
PO Box 1277
Youngsville, NC 27596
http://www.archertransfers.com/
Archer Transfers has solved one of the more difficult problems in modeling steel equipment. They have invented a process to deposit a 3D resin on Microscale clear decal film. They have expanded their line to include various rivet patterns and sizes, safety tread material, fasteners, panel lines and even louvers. The product is very useful not only to solve difficult fabrication projects but it also saves a lot of time. The decal is cut out and applied to the model like a normal Microscale product. We recommend you do not use any decal solvent until it is has evaporated all of the water and you are happy with the position. They you can apply the solvent around the edges. The film will disappear. The decals must be covered with paint since it will chip off otherwise.
Custom Decals
Gerald Glow
1303 De La Garza Place
The Villages, FL 323162
http://home.comcast.net/~jerryglow/decals.html
Jerry Glow's custom decal line was brought to my attention a while back. He offers a wide range of lettering sets for largely Midwestern and Southeastern roads in steam era schemes. The interesting part of this is that he will print them in O scale with a minimum order of two sets of each set desired. He does all of that for around $20 for the two sets. The lettering appears to be opaque and sharply printed. I have ordered a couple different sets and have been impressed with the quality and delivery time.
Rails Unlimited
126 Will Scarlet
Elgin, IL
847-697-5757
railsunl@sbcglobal.net
http://railsunlimited.ribbonrail.com/
Ted announced his latest urethane kit for the Northern Pacific 36' double sheathed boxcar. He also releasing a series of 1932 ARA steel boxcars based upon the old Turner patterns. The Milwaukee Road stock cars are is available. Rails Unlimited has an extensive line of kits and is also an excellent dealer for general model railroad merchandise. He stocks O in depth and gives reliable service.
Glacier Park Models
P.O. Box 244
Ukiah, CA 95482
707-391-4476 (voice), 707-463-6988 (fax)
http://www.glacierparkmodels.com/
Glacier Park has announced their latest ¼" scale project. They are planning to import a series of logging tank Mallets. The models will be detailed, painted and lettered for specific prototype locomotives. They will cover Clover Valley #4, Feather River #4 and four different Weyerhauser locos (#108, 110 and 111). The model are being built by Boo Rim and will be offered with P48 wheel conversion kits. Contact your dealer or GPM for details. Don't wait to the last minute since they are only building what is ordered. GPM locomotives sell out within the first month of arrival in the country.
See the following catalog pages for images of the prototypes:
Tank loco flyer page 1
Tank loco flyer page 2
Tank loco flyer page 3
Hi-Tech Details
P.O. Box 244
Ukiah, CA 95482
http://www.hitechdetails.com
Hi-Tech Details is a newcomer to O scale detail parts but has been around for a while supplying the HO market with innovative details. Their first O release is a molded rubber air hose that include the angle cock and glad hand. You can also get the rubber hoses with a brass bracket for hanging them on the end of cars.
Mullet River Model Works
118 Hudson Court, Plymouth, WI 53073
www.mulletrivermodelworks.com/index.htm
Mullet River Model Works has slowed down on production due to the economy. They have decided to be careful with building up inventories of parts and kits. However, there are new items in the works. They have been busy preparing new kits for you. The latest models are the CB&Q caboose shown below. The kit consists of laser-cut wood, etched brass underframe and details and decals. Mullet River is moving into the world of Rapid Prototyping using 3D CAD to design objects and having them created in a 3D form. The RP part is often done in wax so that the part can be used in the lost wax investment process.
OST Publications
PO Box 289, Exton PA 19341-0289
Phone: 1-610-363-7117
http://www.ostpubs.com/
Mike Cougill, partner in OST Publishing, has several books out on creating highly detailed track and turnouts in P48 and an electronic magazine that covers both P87 and P48. It is called The Missing Conversation. Each magazine provides a progression of thought toward scale railroad modeling.
RY Models
7 Edgedale Court
Wyomissing, PA 19610
http://www.richyodermodels.com/
RY Models continues to import good quality brass rolling stock and trucks. They expect to receive the ATSF Bx-6 double sheathed boxcar and Sk-2 stock car very soon. The model has been well received and is nearly sold out. Prices at his factory in China have gone up and this being reflected in product pricing.
Visit their website to catch up on their new releases and pricing.
Protocraft
18498 Half Moon Street
Unit 203
Sonoma, CA 95476-4835 (707) 935-7011 (voice message)
norm@protocraft.com
http://www.protocraft.com/
Protocraft continues to be the principal supplier of Proto48 wheels, trucks and track parts. They have branched out their product offerings to include an extensive line of decals covering rolling stock. Many of the recent decal sets fit their new line of brass freight cars. The cars are made by Boo Rim and are very high quality. Protocraft continues to add new products frequently so it is worth a periodic visit.
Protocraft is offering a high current DDC/Sound module that uses the Tsunami DCC receiver. Protocraft performs an aftermarket modification to the basic HO unit to permit it to handle a continuous load of 3.5 amps. They added a larger heat sink and changed out the bridge rectifier. The engineering work was done by a digital engineer and has been tested under extreme loads up to 6.0 amps. No need to have to use two DCC controllers to have sound and control when installed in a high current O scale model. Visit the Protocraft website to see the different sound configurations you can order.
Protocraft has imported their second series of brass freight cars from Boo Rim of Korea. The car selected was the Modified 1937 AAR 40' boxcar. The word "modified" identifies the fact that the interior height was increased from the original of 10' to 10'6". This became the standard for boxcar order from the early 1940s on. Protocraft selected 15 versions that would cover 25 railroads by using variation in roof, doors and ladders. The cars come with trucks and unpainted but sealed with a clear lacquer. The trucks are available in standard O gauge (5') or Proto48 and feature ball bearing races on the axle ends. The car should move with ease on your layout.
RL Design
14123 206th St.
S.E., Snohomish, WA 98296-3947
Rick Leach is ready to release the new NP diesel decal sets. There will be two sets covering F-units and GP/ switchers. The sets are very complete with all of the known lettering for all major diesel classes that ran on the NP from the late 1940s up through the late 1960s. The sample shown below shows the stripe pattern for F units and gold/yellow lettering/numbers. The decals were printed by San Juan Decals using a special blend of ink to match the official color drift panels. The scanned color shown below does not represent the actual color.
There are new freight car lettering sets coming from RL Design this fall including a twin hopper set that will work for offsets as well as the USRA twin hoppers.
Please note that Rick is now taking PayPal for payment as well as checks and money orders. Check out the catalog sheet for ordering information.
Catalog
Red Cliff Miniatures
2166 Thomas Trail
Santa Clara, UT 84765
435-652-8390
http://redcliffsminiatures.com
Jim Harper has purchased back his old line of switch and track detailing parts from his former hobby shop. He is now offering an extensive line of Code 100 and 125 track parts.
Greg Komar
13704 Country Court Drive,
Tampa, FL 33625
Komar offers a wide range of high quality dry transfers covering Midwestern and Eastern railroads in some detail. I have used his sets with great success on several models. He doesn't have a website but we loaded his latest listing on the site as a PDF.
Catalog
San Juan Car Company
P. O. Box 1028
Durango, Colorado 81302
Phone: 970-385-5256
http://www.sanjuancarco.com
San Juan has not been able to complete work in their new standard gauge Type-E coupler. This has delayed the importing of the Van Dyke Patent frameless tank car in standard gauge.
Scale Hardware
1736 NE 16 Street
Ft Lauderdale, FL 33304
(954) 609-4108
http://www.scalehardware.com/
Scale Hardware offers a wide range of small details machined from brass that will become an indispensible part of your parts selection. The offer scale machined rivets and simulated square nuts and hex nut along with bolts. In addition, you will find a range of very small threaded bolts, nuts and taps. The smallest threaded bolt listed is .5 mm which as a .020” threaded body.
Southern Car and Foundry
970 Sunshine Land, Suite D
Altamonte Springs, FL 32714
jscagle@msn.com
www.southerncarandfoundry.com
Jon Cagle has been busy this winter preparing new models for release. He still have some of the 40' and 60' Harrimans in stock and a few Bx-12 boxcars. New products will be coming from SC&F this Spring. Correct decals for the Harrimans are now available from Protocraft in both Aluminum Bronze and Dulux Yellow. Charlie Morrill built this kit shown below and used Bayshore Car Dark Olive paint that was formulated by Scalecoat. Tru-Color is now offering SP Dark Oliver in their line of acrylic lacquer paints. In addition, P-B-L has this color in their Star Brand line.
The ATSF Bx-12 kit is in production and has nearly sold out of the current run. SC&F is considering an additional run of cars if the demand warrants the production cost. The model reflects the Santa Fe's attempt to upgrade an older 1924 ARA single sheathed to the capacity of a modern AAR steel boxcar. The cars were long lasting with the last being retired from revenue service in 1970. The Santa Fe raised the roofline by 12" and added a Murphy raised panel roof. The kit is complete with injection molded parts, urethane one-piece body with separate floor, wood running boards and custom Protocraft decals.
Wild Swan Publications, LTD
1-3 Hagbourne Road
Didcot, Oxon OX11 8DP
Wild Swan Publications has a wide range of books on English railroading. Recently, the published two soft-bound books on Modeling Trees by Gordon Gravett. The first part covers Broadleaf trees and second on Conifers. The basic technique involves build an armature (trunk) of florist wire and covering it with a mixture of plaster and PVA glue. The author has illustrated the book with many model and actual tree photos along with a number of very useful techniques.
I first learned of the books through Trevor Marshall and his Port Rowan blog. It is S scale but he is an entertaining author and shows many techniques for layout building that work in any scale. Visit Trevor's blog and enjoy. http://themodelrailwayshow.com/cn1950s/
You will also enjoy seeing Gordon Gravett's work on a 1:50 scale French meter gauge railway. Everything is scratchbuilt. Stunning work to say the least.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/themodelrailwayshow/sets/72157632647597095/
Chooch Enterprises Inc.
P.O. Box 1200, Maple Valley, WA 98038
http://www.choochenterprises.com/html/ultra_scale_ii.html
Chooch Enterprises is a key supplier of critical detail parts for rolling stock both freight and passenger. Mike O'Connell recently mentioned that he has recently restocked all of the parts listed on his website. You find really accurate details for boxcars and reefers as well as rebuilt passenger cars.
The parts can be ordered directly from the Chooch website.
Chooch offers the most complete set of wood and steel door hardware available in O Scale. This includes the Camel #32 top and the Camel #50 bottom roller.
Steel freight cars used this type of bracketed grab iron. The part is intended to upgrade Intermountain parts.
This ladder and stirrup set is designed as an upgrade to the Intermountain boxcar hardware but can be used on other models as well.
Updated April 2013 |
